Greely Myatt – Don’t Die

“Don’t Die”, Condoms, shrink-wrap, wood, 72” x 72” x 72”, 2014, $6000

Statement:

My first idea was to make a one-ton cube of the condoms stacked and shrink sealed onto a wooden shipping pallet. The form was derived from the mostly male generated minimalist cube. As I began working through the resolution of the construction of the piece it became evident that the ton cube would be very close to the size of Tony Smith’s Die, 1962, which is a 6 foot cube. I then decided to make the piece that size and to title the piece “Don’t Die.” The shrink-wrap is still there however the pallet is gone and the piece now sits directly on the floor.

Process Images:

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Bio:

Greely Myatt’s first exhibition was held when he was 10, in the toy section of Elmore’s Five & Dime in Amory, MS. He’s been making and exhibiting art ever since. As he says: “Art is a verb! That’s the way I look at it. So it’s about doing. I generally start with an idea and then try to find materials and processes that best reflect that idea. Working always gives me ten more ideas and then the biggest problem is finding the time to do them. So I start, try to pay attention to what the work is telling me, and then get out of the way.” Myatt, whose decades-long art-making career has frequently focused on communication, will be celebrated in 2014 with separate solo shows at David Lusk Gallery Nashville, the Masur Museum in Louisiana and the Cedarhurst Center for the Arts in Illinois.